If they even get to October.

Nothing you can do about these extra innings. But Joe has been pulling starters way too quick all year.

Forget October. These guys will be tired in September if the Cubs are trying for a playoff push.

Too early to worry about.

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No. It's kind of not too early. Cuz if Joe starts thinking about overusing the bullpen in August, it's too late.

You have to think about your bullpen use all season.

Barnette and Cedeno haven't pitched yet, and Montgomery is due back soon. That's easily 150 innings of bullpen arms.

I expect Cishek to conveniently land on the DL just before the All Star Break to get an extended rest. Maybe the same for Kintzler after that.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

You do, but the philosophy on bullpens is a lot different for every team. A starter going 6 innings now is considered a good outing.

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If the Cubs make it to the playoffs, half of the bullpen is likely not on the team yet.

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Fine. But the guys they acquire might have been overused by their teams. Cuz they're only gonna trade for good guys. And good guys get used a lot.

Well then. Whose bullpen will not be overused by October?

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I don't know. I don't follow any other teams but the Chicago teams. But I know Maddon is fucking insane with his bullpen use.

Also, I don't think the Cubs have the chips to trade for bullpen studs. Cubs farm system is shit now.

Everybody is gonna want bullpen guys at the deadline. And those other teams will have better prospects to offer.

they'll be making trades/upgrades to the pen until October (if they get there)

They'll be adding bums off the scrapheap, and putting them in crucial situations. Surprisingly, it's worked a lot during the Theo reign.

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I may be Beardown's biggest fan here but these baseball thoughts/predictions are not....good.


This thought is ancient. Modern bullpens cycle thru different guys for the 4-7 spots all year and the main 3 will have a normal amount of innings

Maddon is not unique in pulling starters early anymore. Starters generally don't go thru a lineup more than twice. When they do, its rare.

Alright. Maybe I'm wrong. There's a first time for everything.

They probably need 560-600 innings from their bullpen during the regular season. With all the days off, the playoffs are a completely different animal.

So by now they should be at 90-100 innings. Divided by 8 relievers, that would be 12-13 each. The only one with more than 12 innings of relief is Kintzler, who is at 12 2/3. Strop is only at 9 2/3.

It's not like any of these guys is on pace to become 1970s Mike Marshall, they're all on pace for 70 innings. And Montgomery and Edwards will come back and give some of the front end guys a break. Some more offensive blowouts would help as well, so they can throw more innings at guys like Webster and Rosario who they won't need in October.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Fortunate that the team had Monday to rest the bullpen. Maddon's use (abuse) of the bullpen is his greatest fault. Theo has been good in past year's getting help at the trade deadline and I expect he will do that again this season. Perhaps early June even, when they could sign current free agents, without having to surrender a compensatory pick for signing them.

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Go Cubs!!!!